From: WillNich@aol.com
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 1997 20:37:47 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Philpot Hearings in Kentucky
To be published in the September issue of The Letter - Kentucky's gay and
lesbian newspaper.
David Williams, Editor
**************************
Gays Dragged Through Mud at Philpot Hearings
Fireworks erupted during a hearing of the Joint House-Senate Judiciary
Committee in Frankfort on August 19 as leaders of the religious right
attempted to characterize homosexuals--particularly gay men--as out of
control creatures undeserving of legal protections.
The hearings were called by Sen. Tim Philpot, a fundamentalist Christian from
Lexington, to determine whether gay and lesbian couples should continue to be
protected under the state's current domestic violence laws, which were
adopted in 1992. Two proposals to prohibit recognition of same-sex marriages
in Kentucky were also taken up. No votes were taken.
Several gays and lesbians testified at the three-hour session. Especially
forceful was Dr. Joan Callahan of the University of Kentucky, who told the
committee that "There simply is no credible secular argument that intimacy
between members of the same sex is wrong." Claiming that the state
legislature was attempting to establish religion through its laws, she ended
her speech by looking at Sen. Philpot and affirming, "Shame on you, Sen.
Philpot!"
Bill Cunningham compared the struggle for gay civil rights to his own
lifetime struggle with black civil rights. He told the hushed room that he
recognizes oppression when he sees it.
Especially heartfelt was testimony by author Martha Barnette of Louisville,
who vividly described the sudden deportation of her Brazilian lover from the
US because her visa had expired. If the two had been legally married, the
incident couldn't have occurred.
Others noted the economic and family hardships encountered because they are
not allowed to marry. Among them was Jeanette Wollack, who said that she has
to pay $300 extra per month for health insurance premiums for her lover and
their son. If she could claim her lover as a legal spouse, those premiums
would easily be cut by two-thirds.
Heading the religious right roster was Dr. Judith Reisman, a nationally
prominent anti-gay crusader best known for her fight against adoption of a
gay-supportive curriculum in the New York public schools earlier in the
decade. Reisman's last known public appearance in Kentucky was in 1992
during the debate over Louisville's first Fairness Amendment, which failed.
Reisman relied mainly on a flawed study she and a colleague performed several
years ago in an attempt to demonstrate everything from high rates of
pedophilia to sadomasochism among gay men.
Reisman's methodology is similar to that of Paul Cameron, whose research is
also widely used by the religious right (he's the one that developed the
unsupportable idea that gay men's average age is only 42).
In an attempt to prove her point, she relied on a survey of 10,292 personals
ads in The Advocate and a straight newspaper from Washington, DC to develop
her findings.
The only problem is The Advocate's low circulation: about 75,000 copies
every two weeks. The US gay and bisexual male population is estimated at
close to twenty million. Another problem was her definition of violence.
For example, she seemed to equate the use of dildos during sex with physical
violence.
Other anti-gay speakers included Louisville attorney Ron Ray, a colleague of
Frank Simon's, and Martin Cothran, head of The Family Foundation in
Lexington.
Ray termed previous testimony by gays and lesbians "anecdotal" and charged
that gays were engaging in a "very sophisticated propaganda campaign" full of
linguistic nuances that "distorted reality." Similar charges have often been
levied against the religious right.
Cothran quipped that same-sex marriage would do for the institution of
marriage what Dr. Kervorkian has done for sick people.
Towards the end of the session, Rep. Eleanor Jordan, an African-American
Democrat from Louisville's West End, got in the best shots of the day.
"These are the same arguments used against my parents" in the days of
segregation, she commented. She challenged Reisman and Ray to give her "one
good reason" why she should vote for the bills. They failed to convince her
of any.
Rep. Kathy Stein of Lexington was particularly incensed by Reisman and Ray's
testimony. "I know what it is you all are about," she nearly shouted, "and
it's not about getting at the truth....I think you two owe a lot of people in
this room an apology." Until coming to the legislature eight months ago,
Stein was involved in spouse abuse programs in Lexington.
No vote on any of the three measures has been scheduled. The committee
generally meets monthly. The Kentucky General Assembly doesn't meet until
January of next year.